When the Tunnel Fell
I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing.
John 15:5
The moment he woke up that morning, he already had that dreadful feeling something was wrong. What it was he could not say, but a heavy cloud of dread hung over him and he could not shake it off. It was probably nothing, or so he told himself. He wasn’t about to get sick, the bills were paid and never once in all his years as a mine worker had he experienced an accident. On the dark side, it was true he hadn’t opened his Bible in a long time; after work, the TV always won.
Before long he was back in the mine together with his partner, hacking away in the semi-dark corridor looking for precious stones, but his mind kept circling back to the strange dread. Maybe he should return to reading that old book. His wife had even prayed for him that morning. She had urged him to return to the Word he’d long neglected. “You can’t fight on an empty heart,” she’d said.
Maybe so. Would the verses he learned long ago be still stored up, somewhere inside him?
When his buddy stepped outside for a short break, the unease clawed back at him. He hated being alone down here.
That’s when it happened.
One of the support beams gave way and part of the tunnel came crashing down. Instantly the lights went out and he was plunged into deep darkness, breathing in particles of dust and fear. His premonition had been right. He was going to die. He should have turned back to God’s Word sooner. Now he had nothing left, except a cry for help.
Panic knocked on the door of his heart. This was it. His last hour had come. He pictured his wife’s face; full of grief and regret. The fear crushed him. “Oh, God,” he cried out. “I am a dead man.”
“The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…”
The words didn’t come like verses. They came as Someone speaking to him in the dark.
“God,” he prayed, “bring Your Word back to my memory. It’s all I’ve got.”
There was no light and no angelic presence who lifted the stones away for him, but a strange peace rose in his heart as Bible passage after Bible passage surfaced from somewhere deep within.
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
As he lay in the deepest darkness he had ever known, peace settled over him like warm light. He was not alone. The power of God was with him.
He stayed like that for several hours until, at last, a rescue team found him.
When he stepped out into the light, people were amazed; seeing his face radiant and full of joy.
“How are you so calm?” his boss asked.
“I was with Jesus,” he simply replied. “I abided in Him.”
Prayer:
Lord, Your Word is the most precious thing I possess. Will You help me make it my priority every day? Amen.